Track-scraper for street-railway cars.



G. W. CLARK.

TRACK SGRAPER FOR STREET RAILWAY CARS.

- APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1911. 1,033,539, Patented July 23,1912.

2 ISHEETSSHEET 1 IEIIE avwcmfoz fitter/1401 G. W. CLARK.

TRACK SORAPER FOR STREET RAILWAY CARS. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 8, 1911.

1,033,539. Patented July 23, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

gmvewl'oz lvwwaooco EEUFEE W K UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. CLARK, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

. TRACK-SCRAPER FOR, STREET-RAILWAY CARS. 7

To all w/zom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE V. CLARK, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 'lrack-Scrapers for Street-Railway Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in track scrapers for street railway cars and its object is to provide a device which is compact, efficient and cheaply constructed, easily adjusted and detachable, and to provide the same with various new and useful features hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a part of a street car showing my improved track scraper in operative position; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of the car floor and supporting beams showing the scraper raised from operative position; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the scraper; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 5 is a sectional plan on the line 55 of Fig. 3 showing the angular position of the scraper blades, with relation to the rail; Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the shaft and supporting brackets; Fig. 7 is a transverse section through the shaft and spring showing details of construction and Fig. 8 is a section on the line 88 of Fig. 6.

Like numbers refer to like parts in all of the figures.

1 represents any convenient beam extending transversely of the car beneath the floor, 2 is a shaft journaled and supported in brackets 3 and a which brackets are attached to the under side of the beam 1. of the shaft is provided with a head 2 to prevent it from slipping through its bearing while the other end is reduced to form a shoulder which acts as a stop for the bracket ff. A washer 5 is slipped over the projecting end of the shaft and a cotter pin 6 is inserted through a hole provided in the same to retain the shaft within its bearings. The scraper blade 7 is attached to the lower end of a strip of spring steel 8 which ex- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 8, 1911.

One end Patented July 23, 1912. Serial No. 637,544.

tends upward and forward and is coiled loosely about the shaft 2, the inner end being turned inward toward its axis and inserted in a slot 2* in the drum. It will be seen that the coiled portion of the spring 8 lies between the brackets 3 and fl: which prevent it from slipping from the shaft.

The shaft 2 may be rotated in either direction by means of a worm and gear within a chamber in the bracket 3, the bracket forming a housing for the worm gearing, gear 9 being preferably formed in the shaft and the worm 10 on a vertical shaft 11 which shaft is journaled in the bracket 3 and extends upward through the car floor, the shaft and worm each being removable longitudinally from the brackets by removing the cotter pins therein. The upper end of the shaft is flush wit-h the floor and is squared to permit of its being turned wit-h a socket wrench or other convenient tool and a fitting 12 forms a bearing for the upper end of the shaft and is let into the car floor so that no part of the device will extend above the floor. Thus it cannot be accidentally turned or tampered with.

To remove the bulk of the snow from the rail which is indicated by 14, I provide a scraper blade 7 which is attached to the lower end of the spring 8 and is substantially rectangular in shape, its outer end being slightly elevated while its inner, lower edge is cut away to avoid contacting the pavement. This blade 7 does not engage the rail 14 but is slightly elevated above it and turned at an angle with the inner end in advance as shown in Fig. 5 and thus adapted to remove the bulk of the snow from the rail and throw it outside of the track.

To scrape the rail clean I provide an auxiliary blade 13 which is made of spring steel and is much narrower than the blade 7. This auxiliary blade 13, is located clirectly behind the blade 7 and is attached at its upper end to the spring 8, while its lower end which engages the rail is left free so that it may readily pass over any obstructions. The lower end of the blade 13 is so constructed that a portion of it will traverse the upper surface of the rail 14; while a projecting portion at one side extends downward along the inner side of the rail remov-- ing the snow therefrom so that the flange of the car wheel will not be obstructed.

It will be readily seen that the tension of the spring which holds the scraper blades to the rail may be easily and quickly adjusted from the inside of the car by rotating the shaft 2 and turning the worm, and when once adjusted it will stay in position. The shaft may also be turned so that the blade will be lifted clear of the track as shown in Fig. 2 and as they swing in a comparatively short radius they can be arranged to avoid any obstruction which may be located beneath the car.

()ne of the advantageous features of this device is that each scraper is independently operative and may be used independently of any of the others. Each scraper may also be separately located in any advantageous position.

The parts of this device are simple and cheaply made necessitating very little machine work. So also very little work is required to remove the scrapers for storage during the summer, it only being necessary after the worm 10 and shaft 11 have been removed to remove the cotter pin (3 and draw the shaft 2 from its bearings allowing the spring and washers to drop off from the same, the brackets 3 and 4: being left attached to the car.

What I claim is 1. A track scraper, comprising a short shaft provided with a worm gear, a worm engaging the gear, a spring arm attached to the shaft and a scraper attached to the arm.

2. A track scraper, comprising a shaft provided with a worm gear, a scraper attached to said shaft, a worm engaging said gear, and a chambered bracket forming a housing for said Worm and gear in which bracket the shaft and worm are journaled.

3. A track scraper, comprising a short horizontal shaft having a worm gear cut therein, a vertical shaft having a worm engaging the said gear, a chambered bracket forming a housing for said worm gearing in which the said shafts are journaled, a

flexible arm attached to the horizontal shaft and a scraper attached to said arm.

at. A. track scraper, comprising a short horizontal shaft, having a head at one end and a cotter at the other end and also having a longitudinal groove and a circumferential worm gear, two brackets spaced apart in which said shaft is journaled one of said brackets being chambered to form a housing inclosing said worm gear, a vertical shaft journaled in the chambered bracket and having a worm engaging said gear, a spring coiled around the horizontal shaft having one end turned inward and detachably engaging the groove and a scraper attached to the other end of the spring.

5. A track scraper, comprising an oscillatory shaft, scraper blades adapted to clean a rail, a spring connecting said scraper blades to the shaft and having its upper end coiled about the shaft, a worm gear in the shaft, and a worm pinion engaging said worm gear mounted on an upwardly extending shaft.

6. In a track scraper, the combination of an oscillatory shaft mounted in brackets, a main scraper blade adapted to be positioned close above a rail, an auxiliary blade located behind the main blade for engaging the said rail and adapted to yield independent of the main blade, a spring connecting said blades to the shaft having its upper end coiled about said shaft and attached to the same, a worm gear in the shaft, a worm pinion engaging said worm gear mounted on an upwardly extending shaft and adapted to turn said first named shaft to adjust the tension of the spring and to hold the shaft when adjusted.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE WV. CLARK.

lVitnesses HAROLD O. VAN Anrwnnr, Man RANKIN.

Goples of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I]. C. 

